Big babies... a sign of things to come?

[Libbaloo]

I have read somewhere on the diabetes website that having a baby over 9lbs may be a risk factor of being or becoming prediabetic later.
I had two healthy babies (8lbs 10oz and 9lbs 1oz) in the 90's when I was 30 and 32. They were not particularly big but I was 7lbs 2 when born in the 60's.
I wasn't overweight when I was younger but the weight has come round my middle in my 40's. That was when I also started on borderline BP and Cholesterol meds. I probably became more sedentary with working from home and snacking more.

Are we genetically predisposed to Diabetes? No clinical diagnoses in my family but as the generations get bigger and we are eating more refined sugar and carbs, is our BMI leading us down that path?

 

[ButtterflyLady]

I have read somewhere on the diabetes website that having a baby over 9lbs may be a risk factor of being or becoming prediabetic later.
I had two healthy babies (8lbs 10oz and 9lbs 1oz) in the 90's when I was 30 and 32. They were not particularly big but I was 7lbs 2 when born in the 60's.
I wasn't overweight when I was younger but the weight has come round my middle in my 40's. That was when I also started on borderline BP and Cholesterol meds. I probably became more sedentary with working from home and snacking more.

Are we genetically predisposed to Diabetes? No clinical diagnoses in my family but as the generations get bigger and we are eating more refined sugar and carbs, is our BMI leading us down that path?

I think the answer to this is complex and I don't know the extent to which genetics and BMI play a part. There may have been people in your family who would have had high normal or pre-D or D levels of HbA1c if they were tested, but they never were, and they never showed frank signs of T2.

I too have read about large babies and risk of future diabetes. I think both of your babies were big... certainly above average. So I googled average birthweight UK and found the link below, which says at 40 weeks the average weight is 7.63lb.
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a1004000/average-fetal-length-and-weight-chart

I've also read that when insulin resistance develops, the next thing that develops is high BP followed later by high HbA1c, and that was the case with me too - one happened about 3 years after the other.

You mention taking cholesterol meds. Was/is that a statin? Statins have been associated with people getting T2 diabetes. There is more info about this at Bloodsugar101, which is an excellent site if you are interested in more details about T2 diabetes and everything to do with it:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

 

[azure]

The risk of diabetes is because large babies can be a sign of gestational diabetes. Women who had gestational diabetes are at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Not all large babies are due to gestational diabetes, but the thought is that if someone seems fine during pregnancy and then gives birth to a 10lb baby that that person may have had undetected gestational diabetes in late pregnancy, which caused that large baby.

 

[dawnmc]

Hmmm, not sure how true that is. I had 4 kids, 2 were average weight. Both are very tall. 2 were over 9lbs, one of them (the heaviest) is shorter that her siblings but is very fit and skinny, the other is 5ft.9. My sister in law had very large babies - 5 of them the last being almost 15lbs. Ouch, but they are all very tall too. Horses for courses eh.

 

[Brunneria]

I saw an article once linking lack of Vit D in the mother, while pregnant, to the incidence of autoimmune diseases in the child, throughout their lives - including diabetes.

It was a while back, so I have no details of the study criteria, but considering the links between Vit D and the wide effect it has, i would be interested to learn more. Of course, any evidence on this would be hard to come by.

 

[azure]

Hmmm, not sure how true that is. I had 4 kids, 2 were average weight. Both are very tall. 2 were over 9lbs, one of them (the heaviest) is shorter that her siblings but is very fit and skinny, the other is 5ft.9. My sister in law had very large babies - 5 of them the last being almost 15lbs. Ouch, but they are all very tall too. Horses for courses eh.

Indeed - some babies are naturally larger and the cut off of 9lbs is arbitrary. Having a 'large' baby doesn't automatically mean any women will get diabetes. But gestational diabetes is one possible cause of large babies, as I said above.

Policies vary from country to country, but often if a woman has given birth to a 'larger than average' baby and is pregnant again, she's tested to rule out gestational diabetes.

 

[dawnmc]

Indeed - some babies are naturally larger and the cut off of 9lbs is arbitrary. Having a 'large' baby doesn't automatically mean any women will get diabetes. But gestational diabetes is one possible cause of large babies, as I said above.

Policies vary from country to country, but often if a woman has given birth to a 'larger than average' baby and is pregnant again, she's tested to rule out gestational diabetes.

Ah ok, well we did have our last babies over 25 years ago, think its different these days.

 

[Libbaloo]

My son (born 8lbs 10) is 6ft 3 - tall and medium build at 21 but starting to develop a bit of a tummy due to student diet and lifestyle.

Daughter was 9lbs 1oz and hypothyroid since age 15 when she had an autoimmune Hashimotos thyroiditis (inflammation of thyroid which send her hypothyroid - underactive- she is now on thyroxine meds) She is average height and weight but I am concerned for them as well as for me as I start putting a picture together.
Lots is starting to come together.

In my second pregnancy at age 32 I had slightly raised BP (although not officially pre-eclampsia)

My raised BP diagnosis and meds was at age 40, that was followed by prescribed Simvastatin as a ' protective measure' as I was in higher risk for cardio vascular.
At 50, my first fasting blood glucose was taken as part of general peri menopause/ well woman blood test

A follow up test at 51 revealed prediabetes.

There seemed to be a progression.

We do the best we can.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

I believe that in NZ all pregnant women are checked for GD. I think this is a good practice.

 

[Croc]

That's interesting. I didn't have GD but my 4 were(in order) 9lb 3, 7lb 3, 8lb and 9lb. All born between a week and two weeks early. Funnily enough the two biggest ones are now 6ft 5 and 6ft 3 and built like string beans. The middle two are much chunkier. I developed diabetes (well was diagnosed) at 48, 12 years after I had the last one.

All my pregnancies were completely straight forward and easy with no huge weight gain.

 

[NicolaB70]

I too didn't have GD with each of my three pregnancies. My first two of my three sons were big babies, 9lb 6oz and 10lb 4oz. The first was a week late and the second a day late. My third son was a tiny 5lb 2oz and a month premature. All three pregnancies were straightforward. The two older boys are now just under 6ft skinny beanpoles and my youngest is a little chunky but like his brothers, he's growing taller and will lose the weight.
I didn't get DB until two years ago at the age of 43, eleven years after the birth of my last son.

 

[dancer]

My middle brother was 11lb 8oz (the rest of us were over 8lb) but my mother didn't become diabetic. Interestingly there is now Type 2 in the family, 2 uncles and 2 brothers (one of them being the huge baby). The uncles were overweight but not my brothers.

 

[Mrsmac247]

My baby now nearly 2 was born 10lb 4oz, there were collisions giving birth, she became stuck and ended up with nerve damage. It is diabetes that I had gd as I am now diagnosed type 2

 

[azure]

I believe that in NZ all pregnant women are checked for GD. I think this is a good practice.

Interestingly, there was a news story about GD diagnosis in the UK recently:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33099969

 

[Libbaloo]

interesting.... I realise I should have put this question in a different thread but it still seems to find some responses. thank you

 

[Celeriac]

I saw an article once linking lack of Vit D in the mother, while pregnant, to the incidence of autoimmune diseases in the child, throughout their lives - including diabetes.

It was a while back, so I have no details of the study criteria, but considering the links between Vit D and the wide effect it has, i would be interested to learn more. Of course, any evidence on this would be hard to come by.

I saw something about vitamin D and diabetes too. Some Type 1 & 2s were recruited for a study and they had to have blood tests. the lab picked up on the fact that a very high number were deficient in Vitamin D.

 

[dawnmc]

Interesting this, I do recall a documentary on pregnant women in India who had low birth weight children and as a result were more likely to develop diabetes in adult hood. Now I believe Asians are prone to diabetes.

 

[graj0]

. . . . . . is our BMI leading us down that path?

Overall a complicated set of questions. Increased carbs isn't helping in conjunction with lifestyle, but by no means the only problem. The more I've looked into nutrition the more horrified I am at the amount of chemicals that we happily consume in the so called unprocessed food that we eat. BMI I think it's fair to say isn't fit for purpose. Even medics, who have to use it as some indication of weight, are saying that.

 

[Nyxks]

I was a preme, almost didn't make it out alive. They actually lost my heart beat shortly before my birth. 20 years later I'd get told T1D n the only history was T2 OK n my mom's side of the line.